PocketCoinage

May 15th is the last chance for a frost in Central New Jersey.  This is about the time when the summer crop gets sowed.  That means by March 15, you need to start your seeds.  I actually started my seedlings about two weeks ago.

This year I wanted something more durable.  So I ordered four of Park’s Bio Dome seed starting kits.  I tried other seed starting trays in the past from Home Depot, but they only seem to hold up for a season or two.  This is mainly due to their high level of cheap recycled content.  The 9 pack cells can fall crack very easily if you are not careful taking the plants out.  I’m lucky to be making a 3rd season with them.  However, I did lose a lot of the seed cells.  Yes, the Park’s Bio Domes are significantly more expensive than the seed starting kits you can find at Home Depot, but you’ll end up buying more in the long run.  I’ll write a review about the Park’s Bio Dome as soon as my seedlings are transplanted to larger containers.  So far, I feel they are worth the money.

So far, I started the seeds for the following plants:

Totally Tomato’s Djena Lees Golden Girl Tomato

An heirloom dating back to the 1920’s that’s rumored to have won 1st Place at the Chicago Fair 10 years in a row. Fruits are golden yellow to deep orange, globe shaped, meaty and weigh 8 to 12 oz. each. The perfect balance of acid and sugars gives it a sweet, yet tangy flavor.

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It’s been a couple of months since my last posting and the storm has passed.  The threat of potential layoffs has gone.  However, that doesn’t mean that I’m letting my guard down.

Over the past two months, I’ve been working on personal and career development.  This meant turning off the television and reading a book or two!  I have not watched the news during this time – at all.  I cannot change what’s going on down in Washington.  I cannot change what’s happening around the world.  What I can change is myself.  It feels so much better having control over something and watching that change happen!

Part of this change is knocking down my student loans down by almost $2,000.  Now I am down to $7,900!  I was able to bring it down by selling U.S. Savings Bonds, items on Amazon, and sacrificing.  If all goes well with my tax return, this loan might be paid off by the summer!

With Spring right around the corner, I started to grow my pepper, tomato, and annual seeds on the sun porch.  This year brings many variates of tomato plants and a new greenhouse!  I look forward to writing more about my seedlings and the progress of this year’s garden.

You tune into the news one evening to discover that a hurricane has the potential to make landfall.  They said it could happen in about twenty days.  What do you do?  Do you deny the possibility and keep living your life, or do you start to prepare now?  You start to prepare.

This is exactly what I am doing right now.  Recently at work, there have been talks of layoffs if the finances do not improve.  I’ve heard this through the grapevine over the past three months, but nothing in writing to confirm the rumor.  This, however, changed in the past week; upper management put it in writing.  Because of this, I am officially stopping my debt snowball until the storm passes.  I should find out if they will proceed with the layoffs by next month.  Just to be safe, I’m looking to put it all on hold for the first quarter of 2011.  If things still look cloudy, I’ll continue to stock pile money.  Once things get better, I will toss all that I saved onto my debt and resume the snowball.

I’m going on a strict, written budget for the next couple of months.  I’ll keep you posted.